Did anyone have a look at the setup over parts of Central Australia today ? There's been severe thunderstorm warnings out for parts of northern SA, southern NT and NW NSW as a result.

That's a pretty special sounding from Giles.

Giles

Alice Springs

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By Harald Richter, BoM

23z/17 Giles sounding is scary: deep moisture that will not mix out sits underneath a cap that is stout but breakable, with a dry adiabat above it promising buoyancy nirvana once initiation has decided to take place. A broad subtropical jet sits over the entire area providing adequate deep layer shear for supercells. It gets better: given a rotating stormnear that warm frontal?? boundary that I am hallucinating about in the very sparsesurface data N and W of Coober Pedy (northerlies backing to ENE-lies), whatever/whoever lives in the general area might just get treated to something very special with rotation near ground level ...

IDD20430Australian Government Bureau of MeteorologyNorthern Territory

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SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGfor Damaging Winds, Large Hailstones and Very Heavy RainfallFor people in Alice SpringsIssued at 7:46 pm on Tuesday 18 November 2008

Thunderstorms with potential for damaging winds, large hailstones and very heavy rainfall have been observed on radar and are expected to affect Alice Springs between 2040 pm and 2240 pm CST.

The Northern Territory Emergency Service advises that people should secure loose outside objects, move cars under cover and seek shelter. Driving conditions may be hazardous - avoid flooded roads and watercourses.Issued at 7:46 pm on Tuesday 18 November 2008

Trevor Acton from Darwin sent me these images that he was given from a work colleague who was there for the severe storms and the hail! The landscape looks like something from the eastern states during winter except for the steam in one of the pics rising from the ground and the last photo shows some decent sized hail underfoot.

My thanks to Trevor for supplying the images as it's something we don't always get an opportunity to see this kind of thing when it occurs.